Brazilians strike gold at Jiu Jitsu championship

Abu Dhabi: Brazil’s Marcus Almeida and Gabrielle Garcia were crowned black belt winners and walked away with a purse of $30,000 and a $10,000 respectively, at the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship finals in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the four-day event took place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).

Almeida expressed his thrill upon winning, saying that it is dream-come-true. He added that he could not wait to return to Abu Dhabi for the next edition of the championship, which he described as one of the best in the world.

While Almeida admitted having an advantage over his opponent due to his weight, he said he did not count on that and credited his triumph to hours of hard work with his coach.

Among the female competitors, seven-time world champion, Garcia was celebrating her victory, and said it was much tougher than it may have appeared to spectators.

The finals were followed by a closing ceremony during which Almeida and Garcia pulled out names of winners from a draw on a Land Rover and a Jaguar car.

The fifth edition of the championship saw participation from hundreds of fighters from more than 50 countries and an action-packed schedule for all martial arts fanatics. It was preceded by a Children’s Cup during which children from schools across the UAE competed on an international stage against young fighters from across the globe.